DeFi Education Fund calls on Trump to stop the persecution of crypto software developers

What’s new? Cryptocurrency lobbying organization DeFi Education Fund has asked the Donald Trump administration to stop the “lawless prosecution” of open source software developers, including one of the creators of the Tornado Cash crypto mixer Roman Storm. In a letter to Trump’s crypto and AI adviser David Sacks, it called for “immediate action to discontinue the Biden-era Department of Justice's lawless campaign to criminalize open-source software development.”

The organization’s appeal

What else is known? Storm was indicted in August 2023 for facilitating the laundering of more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency through Tornado Cash. The service itself was included in the US sanctions list in August 2022 for links to hackers from the DPRK, but in March 2025, the court recognized the decision of the Treasury Department as an abuse of power, and the economic restrictions were lifted.

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Storm’s trial will begin in July. Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Semenov, who is also facing charges, is believed to be in Russia.

According to DeFi Education Fund, in this case, the DOJ is attempting to hold developers criminally liable for how third parties use the code they created, which is “not only absurd in principle, but it sets a precedent that potentially chills all crypto development in the United States,” slowing innovation.

DeFi Education Fund also called for recognition that the prosecution contradicts guidance from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued during Trump’s first term, which found that teams developing non-custodial P2P protocols could not be considered money transfer organizations.

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Finally, this legal environment creates risks of political persecution for open-source software developers regardless of industry, the statement says. The group thanked Trump for his support of the industry and his promise to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet,” but noted that this goal cannot be achieved if the creators of blockchain-based tools are persecuted.